Last year the Coral Restoration Foundation was invited to assist the local coral reef restoration group on Bonaire in the southern Caribbean.  In early February, the Bonaire Island Council granted a permit to the local group to allow work to begin on developing a nursery and restoration program on the main island of Bonaire and adjacent island of Klein Bonaire.  Ken Nedimyer, CRF Board member Denise Nedimyer, and the Coral Restoration Foundation staff will travel to these islands in the Netherland Antilles during April to begin work on the Bonaire Reef Pilot Project.

In addition to working with local Bonaire authorities to identify specific sites for coral nurseries and reef outplantings, CRF will collect different genetic strains of staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn (Acropora palmata) coral, that will be used to populate coral growing trees in two coral nurseries.  These corals will be monitored and maintained by the local support group trained by CRF and  will form the base nursery stock that will be fragmented every six months to develop second and third generation corals in each genetic subgroup.  In late 2013, these second and third generation corals will be taken from the nursery and outplanted onto nearby degraded reefs.

Read more...

Certified scuba divers can take part in an active coral reef restoration program with the marine scientists from Key Largo’s Coral Restoration Foundation in conjunction with Sustainatopia, one of the world’s largest events that celebrates the fusion of social, financial and environmental sustainability, this year held in Miami April 19-25. Three full-day excursions in Key Largo are available Friday through Sunday, April 20-22. Participants meet for a morning training session discussing causes of coral reef decline, CRF’s role in coral restoration and how recreational divers help by volunteering. A two-tank guided afternoon dive excursion to the offshore coral nursery and an active reef restoration site includes a tour of one of the reefs where CRF has been restoring corals, followed by hands-on coral propagation and nursery maintenance activities. If weather conditions allow, participants will be able to help plant nursery-grown corals on the reef. This is primarily a dive excursion, and active participants must be certified open-water scuba divers. Cost is $100 per person and minimum age is 14. Tickets are available at http://sustainatopia.com/april20/coral-restoration-foundation.

See complete Earth Day Events from Travel New Video

The Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) believes community involvement is key to restoring our reefs for future generations. With the help of dive clubs, school groups, public aquariums, scientists, aquarist organizations, and other volunteers, CRF has outplanted thousands of corals on degraded reefs.

The CRF Dive Program encourages divers of all ages and skill levels to get involved and take an active role in coral restoration. By blending classroom instruction with diving, CRF provides a hands-on approach to restoration. CRF aims to engage participants in conservation efforts by promoting long-term involvement in reef education and restoration.

Dive Programs consist of one to three days of instruction and diving where participants are fully immersed in coral restoration. Program length and content may be adjusted based on group size and interest.

Divers join CRF staff for morning presentations on CRF’s history, mission, stressors causing coral decline, and restoration techniques. Divers then dive two tanks and experience hands-on growing methods in the nursery, outplanting from the nursery to the reef, or maintaining an existing restoration site.

Two PADI Distinctive Specialty courses can be combined with any Dive Program. The “Introduction to Coral Restoration” is a one-day course where divers take a guided tour of the coral nursery and previous reef restoration site. The “Coral Restoration Diver” is a more involved two to three day program where divers are actively engaged in nursery and restoration tasks.

Email programs@coralrestoration.org or call (305) 767-2133 to schedule a Dive Program.

March 13-14, 2012

Keys Diver, Key Largo, Florida

Join CRF and Keys Diver for a Two Day program March 13-14. Learn about CRF's coral nursery and restoration efforts during morning presentations, then actually get to dive and work in the coral nursery and plant coral on a local reef in the afternoons. Contact Keys Diver (305) 451-1177, to sign up!

See the CNN announcement and watch videos at http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/

Read more...

"It was just the most magical place I'd ever been to," said Nedimyer, 56. "The coral reefs were so pretty. So many fish and so many neat things to see."

Nedimyer became a commercial fisherman and tropical fish collector, working in the ocean nearly every day of the year. But by the mid-1980s, he noticed a troubling trend.

Two of the region's most important corals, staghorn and elkhorn, were in drastic decline. The corals -- tiny, stationary marine animals that make up the reefs -- were dying because of many reasons, including climate change, pollution and overfishing, experts said.

Today, they're on the endangered species list.

For the complete story, photos and video see  CNN Heroes for March 1, 2012

Read more...

  See full story with photos at Fla-Keys com: 

Read more...

Divers can help keep Florida Keys reefs healthy through "voluntourism" vacations, doing things to protect the reef while vacationing for the greater good, up close and purposefully